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da bet7k： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Imagine jumping into the firing line at a struggling League One club, turned into a circus act by a bumbling owner whose ineptitude led to supporters throwing balls, crisp packets and even plastic pigs onto the turf in protest.
After you’ve imagined that, allow your mind to think about actually turning that club’s fortunes around, having spent approximately £0 on the playing staff.
Not just turning those fortunes around, but also putting them into a missile and firing them into astronomic heights in the form of winning promotion to the Championship.
Crazy, right?
However, then imagine your boss congratulating you with a public announcement of your departure, before actually offering you a measly 12-month contract.
That is precisely the situation in which Lee Bowyer finds himself in.
The Charlton boss has worked miracles at The Valley since replacing Karl Robinson at the helm, but for all his good work, Addicks chief Roland Duchatelet continues to undervalue his main asset, the man responsible for everything good at the club.
Bowyer, 42, recently expressed his frustration at the 12-month deal handed to him, stating that he would be able to build something at the club if he had been given a three-year deal instead.
“I have a one-year contract again this season. There is no stability and you’ll come to a point of ‘how long can you keep doing it’.
“If Charlton offered me a three-year deal, you know you can build and make it successful. But what if am not given that opportunity here? At the moment, I am gambling every year. We had 13 players leave and had to find another 12 to stay in the league. How many times can you keep doing that?”
But could Bowyer actually build something with a three-year contract under his belt, given what he’s done so far? Probably, yes.
Since permanently stepping into the hotseat in September of last year, Bowyer has built his success on what he has done with young players and academy graduates.
In his work with Arsenal loanee Krystian Bielik last term – a man who was sold for £10m this summer – as well as his tutoring of Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher and West Ham’s Josh Cullen this season, Bowyer has proved on multiple occasions that he can extract good performances from young players on a consistent basis.
In Gallagher’s case specifically, the 19-year-old recently won the EFL Young Player of the Month award for his fine start to the season, in which he has four goal involvements in eight Championship games under Bowyer’s tutelage.
The 42-year-old has also shown he can work effectively with academy graduates such as Joe Aribo, a player who starred last season with nine goals and five assists from midfield in League One – the 23-year-old earned himself a move to Rangers.
Combined with his ability to operate on a budget – Bowyer has spent just £203k since taking charge – the evidence is already there to suggest Bowyer could create a really strong team over the course of three years, one that could potentially make a genuine push for Premier League football.
That’s what we’ve seen from Chris Wilder, who took Sheffield United from League One to the top flight in three seasons, and as another prodigal son returning home, Bowyer seems to be cut from a similar cloth. Interestingly, three years is also how long it took Eddie Howe to get Bournemouth to the Premier League after rejoining the club in October 2012.
There’s no guarantee Bowyer can do exactly the same despite the similarities, but if he can turn so many youngsters into valuable first-team players over the course of just twelve months, imagine what he could do with three years.
Bowyer’s surely shown he’s worthy of such faith.